From what McCain said Sunday morning, the legislation may be very comprehensive and give us exactly the kinds of reforms that liberals have been calling for years for.
"Top senators, including Arizona Republican John McCain, confirmed on Sunday that a bipartisan Senate plan for immigration reform, expected to be unveiled next week, will include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States."
"We can't go on forever with 11 million people living in this country in the shadows in an illegal status," McCain said on ABC's "This Week. "We cannot forever have children who were born here -- who were brought here by their parents when they were small children to live in the shadows, as well."
"The comments mark a shift for McCain, who previously opposed a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, labeling such a plan "amnesty" in 2010, the same year he voted against the Dream Act. But he admitted Sunday that the GOP's poor showing among Hispanic voters in 2012 has caused the party to reconsider its position on immigration."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/27/john-mccain-immigration-reform_n_2561614.html
Recall that McCain is from Jan Breuer's "paper's please" law-that was mostly thrown out by the SJC last June. To be sure, there was a time-back in 2006-when McCain was more open to immigration reform.
The contours of the deal are out:
"According to the Associated Press, the bill would grant legal status and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants only after a series of additional border security measures were put in place. In addition, the package would include an e-verify program to prevent employers from hiring undocumented workers in the future, an expanded visa and guest worker program to manage future immigration, and a seperate streamlined path towards citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were bought to America as children."
"The Democratic Senators working on the deal are Sens. Robert Menedez (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Michael Bennett (D-CO), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The Republicans are Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC)"
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/senators-reach-bipartisan-immigration-reform-deal?ref=fpa
What this does again is validate the Kristol Premise: elections have consequences and the GOP will have to work with the President much more than they had planned to. In the weeks before November 6, the President had said that if he wins again he thought that maybe the GOP would work with him more because they wouldn't have to worry anymore about beating him.
At the time, Boehner and friends wholly dismissed this-as they did anything the President says-yet what is already clear is that this is nothing like the last 2 years.
We already have the fiscal cliff deal that does what Republicans said they'd never allow, tax hikes on the rich, Sandy relief aid, the debt ceiling being hiked till May, and now immigration reform.
While the media has been emphasizing how hard gun control will be, I predict that something meaningful will get done there too. Indeed, Greg Sargent pointed out on Friday the possibility of some GOP support for gun control.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/25/dont-write-off-gop-support-for-obamas-gun-proposals/
Evidently assault weapons will be tough, but background checks are not just a no-brainer but a very popular no-brainer among even Republicans and NRA members. It will be tough for the GOP to do nothing on this either.
What we are seeing is that bipartisanship is the outgrowth, not of going David Brooks and singing Kumbaya as the President tried to do at the start of 2009, but of playing tough with the GOP and letting them know that they will lose if they don't negotiate in good faith. It was Reagan's popularity in the 80s that made Democrats work with him so much and Obama's is now forcing the GOP to do more as well.
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